Officials of the Indian stock exchanges have recommended elimination of all constraints to make the demutualisation experience successful. The official shared their own experiences of demutualisation at a luncheon hosted by the Lahore Stock Exchange (LSE) for the visiting dignitaries of Indian capital market. The delegation comprised of MCX- Stock Exchange India CEO Joseph Massey, South Asian Federation of Exchanges (SAFE) and Delhi Stock Exchange (DSE) Chairman Dr Dalbir Singh and other DSE directors, including Justice Vinod Kumar, Mahendra Nath, Vijay Kumar and Anuj Chowdhry. The delegation held discussions with the Board of Directors and members of the committee overseeing demutualisation at LSE. LSE MD/CEO Aftab Ahmed Ch, while welcoming the delegation said: “Timing of this visit cannot be any better as the exchanges in Pakistan are in the process of demutualisation. We can learn a great deal from the experiences of Delhi Stock Exchange and MCX in a post-demutualisation environment”. He said that the visit of Indian business community would play an important role to increase trade and cross border activity in the backdrop of granting India MFN status and positive measures being taken at both sides in these regards. The Indian business community is visiting Pakistan to participate in a two-day conference of Indo-Pak businessmen and look for opportunities to increase trade and finance between the two countries. Speaking at the occasion, Joseph Massey of MCX-SX said that although Pakistan’s capital market was underdeveloped, this could be a blessing in disguise as it offered the strategic investors a huge upside potential. However, in order to turn this opportunity in exchanges favour, the exchanges must show an ability and willingness to grow. The exchange must try to fully project its potential in its business plan. Without these it will be very difficult to attract strategic investors, let alone contemplate sale at favourable valuation. Commenting on restriction proposed to be placed on issuance of trading rights post-demutualisation, he said that restriction of any sort that can hamper exchange’s business especially its revenue streams will not be viewed favourably by any investor and therefore Exchanges must try to avoid this.
